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Background: To investigate whether exposure to phenolic resins (PR) is associated with quantitative olfactory disorders (QOD), a cross-sectional study of self-reported olfactory impairment (SROI) was performed in occupationally exposed subjects. Material and Methods: Sixty-six workers (45 males, 21 females) at the age (mean ± standard deviation) of 39.8±10.15 years old were divided into 3 exposure groups on the basis of biological exposure indices (BEI) for urinary phenols. It was asked whether the sense of smell has been normal or abnormal during the recent 2 months: the participants were eventually divided into self-reported normosmic, hyposmic, hyperosmic groups. Results: Prevalence of the SROI was 45.5%, with 21 (31.8%) workers complaining about the hyposmia, 12 (18.2%) – anosmia and 9 (13.6%) – hyperosmia. In univariate analyses, female sex was associated with the SROI and the hyperosmia. Highly exposed workers showed the SROI more frequently (odds ratio (OR) = 4.714; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.077–20.626) than those not exposed (reference) or low exposed (OR = 1.333; 95% CI: 0.416–4.274). In multivariate analyses, female sex was the main risk factor for the SROI (adjusted odds ratio (ORa) = 5.622; 95% CI: 1.525–20.722) and the hyperosmia (ORa = 25.143; 95% CI: 2.379–265.7) but a high exposure to phenol (ORa = 11.133; 95% CI: 1.060–116.9) was the main risk factor for the anosmia. Conclusions: This study has found slight evidence among the cross-section of chemical industry workers that the exposure to phenol may be associated with the SROI. On the other hand, self-reporting of the QOD may be biased by personal factors and further research with objective measurement is therefore required. Med Pr 2016;67(2):173–186

Exposure misclassification constitutes a major obstacle when developing dose-response relationships for risk assessment. A non-differentional error results in underestimation of the risk. If the degree of misclassification is known, adjustment may be achieved by sensitivity analysis. The purpose of this study was to examine the full magnitude of measurement error in determining the prenatal exposure to methylmercury. We used data from a prospective study of a Faroese birth cohort. Two biomarkers of methylmercury exposure were available, i. e., the mercury concentrations in cord blood and in maternal hair (sampled at the time of parturition). The laboratory imprecision on both chemical analyses was thought to be below 5% coefficient of variation (CV). As a third exposure parameter, we used the dietary questionnaire response on frequency of whale meat dinners. Factor analysis and structural equation analysis were applied to assess the full extent of the imprecision. The calculated total imprecision much exceeded the known laboratory variation: the CV was 28-30% for the cord-blood concentration and 52-55%for the maternal hair concentration. The dietary questionnaire response was even more imprecise. These findings illustrate that measurement error may be greatly underestimated if judged solely from reproducibility or laboratory quality data. Adjustment by sensitivity analysis is meaningful only if realistic measurement errors are applied. When exposure measurement errors are overlooked or underestimated, decisions based on the precautionary principle will not appropriately reflect the degree of precaution that was intended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]